Most of the music performed was
of course Polish or Polish-related. The opening item was a little known piece by
Elgar, the Symphonic Prelude Polonia (Op.76), composed in 1915 to
support Poland's struggle for independence after World War 1. It runs about 15
minutes and draws on Polish traditional melodies as well as compositions by
Chopin and Paderewski; as you would expect it's well orchestrated and though
it's minor Elgar it's an interesting work. The orchestra produced a warm and
colourful sound.

The next two works
were by the Polish composer Mieczysław Karłowicz (1876-1909): as
it happens I'm familiar with his work - I came across one of his compositions on
a second-hand Polish LP I bought many years ago (for the music on the other
side), and this encouraged me to listen to and purchase some of his other works
when the opportunity arose.

His
Eternal Songs is a Symphonic Poem for orchestra in three movements -
Eternal Longing, Love and Death, and Eternal Being. The orchestral colour is
very effective; the first movement is sombre, the second begins and ends quietly
but with a convincing storm in the middle, and the third is triumphant though
over-reliant on repetitive phrases in crescendo to build up tension. Though it's
not a great work the conductor and orchestra brought out the best in
it.

Karłowicz's violin concerto -
which I know well from a couple of recordings - was performed by a young
violinist, Charlie Siem, born in London in 1986 and carving
out a rising career for himself. The work is lightweight but very attractive,
with a memorable main theme: many of its passages are complex and difficult and
Siem played them effortlessly - I felt he was bowing too hard in the opening
section, and on a couple of occasions the intonation on very high notes was
slightly off, but apart from that it was a convincing and engaging performance
of a work which deserves to be better
known.

Nothing Polish about the final
work, Schumann's Fourth Symphony: it was tautly and energetically played with
the final movement taken at a cracking pace - faster than usual, but with a
precision and fire which made it seem entirely
justified.

The hall was only about
one-fifth full, which was a pity: the performance deserved better apprecation
but it's always difficult to bring audiences in to unfamiliar works, no matter
how good they may be.